"Ssh, I know. . . Trust me, I know." Enasi gently pushed Rasha back, keeping him at a safe distance until Crios drugged the nightmare minion. The sadness pouring out of Inui could have broken Enasi's heart, but the Dream Guardian steeled himself. Once he was sure Inui was safe to be around, he placed Rasha on the bed first. The small cat didn't hesitate to scurry and cuddle up to Inui, trying desperately to ease some of his pain. Enasi, much slower, slid into the bed with the two of them. He made sure Inui got most of Seishu's pillows as a sort of comfort for him. The faint traces of negative energy had still been there. Enasi near the foot of the bed, facing them. "It's okay. Relax. They'll find him. Just focus on getting your strength back." Enasi's voice was silk smooth, calm and collected. His hands ran through Inui's hair, caressing him with love and care as he tried to keep him calm. Normally, this sort of thing worked for his dream minions, mainly because it was a ‘motherly’ tactic he had always done in order to calm them. For the nightmare minion, it managed to quiet his tears until he was quietly sniffiling. “We’ll get him back. We’ll do whatever it takes.” 

Enasi sighed and sat back, watching as Rasha and Inui laid together. He rubbed over the bite he received on his hand and then looked over at Crios. It was a look the fox doctor knew too well- not just from his guardian, but many of his patients. “No. I can’t allow you to get up. Not yet. You’re still injured.” He knew that wouldn’t convince Enasi too much, so he added. “Not now, but later. I’ll check you over to see if you can at least walk around, but for now you’re strictly on bed rest.” Enasi simply sighed and nodded. Crios had to keep his word to Harper. Enasi had to stay in bed no matter what. Hopefully that bought him some time.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the Nightmare Realm, Kaila held his calm facade as to not arouse suspicions or trouble. The last thing he needed was an uproar. Gin was enough of a problem, but the nightmares finding out about the incident now would cause chaos. Jentou stayed quiet, clinging to his brother as usual, watching everyone go about their day. 

There was no time to waste. Kaila’s air of urgency made other minions and nightmares move out of his way as he walked through the camp, not bothering to stop him to talk. Even the smaller ones scurried away. In the midst of camp, he found Lan, Ran, and Tyar standing together. 

“You sure that was all of them?” 

Tyar gave a nod, turning to one of its many forms, this one being the girl with the large gun. “There were two, but I diverted their trail in the opposite direction. I’m sure.” Tyar looked up at Kaila and gave a small bow. Lan and Ran did the same. Before Kaila could ask, Tyar spoke up. “Two of Gin’s...followers were found headed in this direction, a few miles off. I changed their course...So things are safe.” 

Kaila nodded but gestured towards the camp. “Make sure everyone is ready for any emergency procedures. We can’t be too sure.” Tyar nodded and hurried off to follow orders, once more back into the shapeless creature it normally was. “You two. Come with me.” The brothers didn’t question Kaila. They simply fell in step behind the nightmare second and walked towards the far edge of camp, away from the others. “I need another set of eyes helping our search in the Human Realm.” 

“Search for?” Both asked in unison.

“Lord Seishu. He’s missing and the dreams tracked him as far as the Human Realm.” Kaila was blunt, leaving nothing to the imagination. “We need to hurry and find him.” Both Lan and Ran stared in shock, unsure of how to react. They were at a loss for words, following Kaila and Jentou through the portal he created. “I understand it’s not something to just take it lightly. But remember, time is of the essence.” Both of them composed themselves and nodded. They figured they could ask questions later, after Seishu was safe.

On the way there, Kaila explained the plan to the two. Seeing the dreams, no one had time to converse, only nods were exchanged before the nightmares’ wings sprouted. “Move out.” That was all that was heard, from Harper before everyone split up. 

Starla and Finn rushed off, hurrying to a more heavily populated forest. “What have you seen...Tell us please.” Finn mumbled as he brushed his hand against the trunk of a tall oak tree. Starla followed their paths, finding different negative energy focal points. “A lot of these are just regular nightmares. They’re not strong enough to be his.” Finn frowned a little, but kept up his search.

“We can’t be so sure. Remember he is weakened. Instead of looking for negative energy out in the open...try looking for positive energy covering negative ones.” She commented as she looked down a certain path. It was still odd blaming one of their own for something so foul. It left a bad taste in her mouth. The siblings nodded to each other continuing their intensive search. 

~~~~

“There’s a lot of positive energy that way Kaila.” Jentou slowed down some, turning in the direction he gestured to. Kaila stopped and flew downwards, pulling Jentou with him. “Remember, we aren’t here for trouble. We’ll get a closer look just to be sure if Lord Seishu is there or not.” Jentou nodded, both of their wings disappearing as they lowered their energies. Quietly, the two moved closer, using the shadows of the buildings as their cover. “I don’t sense anything-” He was silenced as the nightmare second peeked around the corner. To his dismay, Kaila witnessed nothing important- just a small group of dreams sharing a moment of happiness. Seishu wasn’t there. Of course not.

Kaila merely sighed and turned around. Not much later, the brothers were flying high and scanning the areas for anything they could use to find their guardian- any clues. It made things even more complicated when they had to hide from their own kind, not being able to trust them. Getting dangerously close to dreams wasn’t easy either. Kaila couldn’t just go up and ask if they had seen his guardian- he couldn’t go up to them without the tension of a fight breaking out for that matter. 

~~~~~~

Rue and Harper ended up somewhere much colder. Fortunately, as fast as the duo were moving, the cold didn’t bother them. Snow rose up to Harper’s ankles but that didn’t slow down his pace in the slightest. Rue had to adjust to the wind change, but he was practically a professional when it came to flying- that didn’t stop him either. 

“Do you sense anything?” Harper asked. With Rue being so close to the Nightmare Guardian, he assumed he would have been much more in tune with Seishu than he would. Rue was much too focused on his path, trying not to run into any sudden objects in the cold air, so he shook his head instead of replying. Harper sighed. “Me neither…” 

He had the feeling that this would be a long night. . . But he wouldn’t stop. Harper was just as devoted as Kaila was, of course for different reasons. However, the two groups put their differences aside for a similar cause.